Logan S

Slight variations on the same basic plastic styles, much like any other brand. I think I read somewhere that they licensed the use of the Rage Tail appendage style, so they will have similar action to RT baits. The one that looks like a Rage Bug but with 2 extra side-flappers caught my eye as a swing-head or Carolina rig bait...But I've got boxes full of Rage Bugs already. On TW they are essentially the same price as a pack of Rage Tail baits, not really outrageous IMO...Local stores might up-charge I guess. Regardless of who 'designed' them, they look like baits that would catch fish.

I know bassboat rentals exist, a buddy of mine rented an equipped Bass Tracker from the BPS Marina on Table Rock I think? I've heard of it on other destination lakes too. It's a niche thing though and in the area we are in (DC Metro) bass fishing probably just isn't viable for the marinas to cater too, despite the popularity of the Potomac. I've known a couple different sets of people that went in together on buying a bassboat...Didn't seem to have major issues, but then again they always pretty much fished together. If each had different schedules or wanted to do something different I could see friction building. Like you said, with the right group it might work...But there's a lot of potential friction points out there. There's another semi-related option out there...Local bass clubs as a non-boater/co-angler. You won't be in charge of the boat, but you'll at least get out in a bass rig and fish with guys that are experienced. Would be cheaper than buying into a boat-share or splitting a boat and probably not far off the price of renting boats.

For me...And this related to skipping with casting gear as I think that's the topic. Spinning is obviously easier and a good way to get some of the basics. -Leave brakes alone, just use whatever setting you normally would for casting. You can tighten spool tension a little bit (maybe 1/4 turn, more if needed) to help with backlashing, but once you get better you won't really need to do this. Reason for spool vs brakes is that brakes (especially centrifugal) need the spool to get going a little bit before kicking in enough to help, while spool tension is constant. -Put yourself an appropriate distance from target...Too close is harder than too far, so if in doubt back off a bit. This might be the most important thing, I see a lot of guys get too close and that steeper angle for the skip is really hard to do unless you pitch-skip which is like skipping level 2 . At least 2 full rod lengths away is what you want. -One fluid motion and follow-thru with the cast...Raise the rod tip as the bait moves toward the dock/target. -Practice makes perfect...On the water. It's very hard IMO to practice without being on the water, concrete/ground/etc is not the same as water in terms of skipping a bait off it....So dialing it in at home might actually hurt you when you get to the water since your muscle memory will be set for your home practice. -If you aren't already reasonably accurate at casting in general, practice that too. Bait placement has a big effect on how successful the skip will be. There's a 'sweet spot' for the bait to land to get that perfect skip, you want to be able to hit that. It's obviously not a static spot, but the point is that you need to have good control of you where your bait lands. Take a look at this no-shame bragging video for a good view of distance, cast, and follow-thru with the rod tip .

Haven't used the ToadRunner but I do like the Sprinker...I haven't really had issues with hook ups or landing, nothing that made me think the frog was the problem. Something with trebles like a plopper or walker can still stick a fish if they swipe and miss or don't eat it all the way. The plopper toads have to be eaten all the way to hook the fish, not really surprising that it has a lower ratio. I fish them the same way I do buzz toad or buzzbait....Rod tip high and a speed that keeps a slight bow in the line. Give you a little built in delay time between strike and hookset. Works for me.

@TOXIC...Intentionally screwing over the co-angler is a far cry from situational disadvantages that are inherent to the boater/co-angler format . The former is why rules were written and the later is just part of tournament fishing. Never said or implied this. It really doesn't have any bearing on the discussion anyway. We'll have to agree to disagree on this..."My boat, my rules" applies to me. I don't fish tournaments for the sake of others. Doesn't mean I'm a jerk and I'm not rooting against the Co, but I'm going to do my own thing and sometimes that means the Co will be out of position. It's not breaking those rules. If someone wants to tally up all the times he was out of position and report them to the TD that's on him...I can say that in the hundreds of tournaments I've fished, I've never once received a complaint or been reported. My co-anglers generally do well. Backseating happens 1000x more often on the internet than it does in real life.

I can sympathize with the notion of wanting to get off the bank, but it doesn't make a boater your personal guide - Since you aren't paying ME, besides maybe chipping in for gas/expenses. I've often said that for someone without a boat, being a co-angler in a club is the best deal possible to get out on the water...It's cheaper than hiring a guide or renting a boat and you still get to fish all day with someone who is likely experienced on the body of water you're fishing. But someone shouldn't do this and expect a guide service as sort of a 'loophole'. Understand your sentiment and I agree about fun fishing. It's great that you still operate that way in tournaments, but if other boaters don't operate that way it doesn't make them backseaters or bad boaters. It's unfair to make that the standard to be measured to. Regarding rules and 'malicious' or 'intentional' acts....If my pattern is dock fishing, or running a spinnerbait close to the bank, or something else where the co-angler is going to be at a disadvantage....Am I being malicious or unfair? Am I supposed to scrap my plans and do something different to appease the Co? My answer is no...That's part of the game for Co's. I'm not going to go out of my way to screw the co-angler, but this whole notion that any inconvenience to the co-angler whatsoever is considered rude/malicious/selfish/backseating/etc is garbage IMO. If someone wants a guide they need to hire a guide. There's a huge difference between situational/unavoidable disadvantages and intentional backseating...And in my experience that vast majority of complaints have to do with the 1st one and not the 2nd.

You can't be throwing this in the discussion about boaters/co-anglers in a tournament...It's not even remotely the same situation and it leads to what is, IMO, a flawed perception of what 'backseating' actually is. Your clients are paying you to take them fishing. A co-angler is NOT paying the boater to take them fishing. Similarly, you can't compare how someone might operate in a team tournament or just out fun-fishing. 'Backseating' is pretty specific to boater/co-angler draw tournaments. In my experience, real backseating - As in the intentional act of denying the non-boater opportunities - Is actually very rare. Now, situations where the boater's plan/style/method/etc happens to put the non-boater at a disadvantage happen frequently...But that's not 'backseating' in my mind, it's just part of being a non-boater. You can't expect your boater to guide you, they are in the tournament too and it's their boat...So if it comes down to the boater or co-angler getting the best shot at something, the boater is going to take that shot (and rightfully so). I've been a tournament director so I've heard some official complaints about backseating and none were ever real backseating...Most often it's just guys that didn't get along or a non-boater with a flawed idea of what the boater 'owes' him. If you're a co-angler/non-boater, you just need to live with the fact that you're along for the ride...99% of the time your boater will be a normal person and you'll get your shots if you know what you're doing. But if you want to call the shots, you need to buy your own boat. Might seem harsh, but it's the reality of the situation.

100% True. If I could fish those lakes I would stop in for sure at least every once in a while. Such a shame to have 3 beautiful lakes so close that are closed off. There's a nice tackle shop (Precision Tackle) in/near Anchor Marina on the Upper Bay (NE River) that seems to do OK because it's got bass boats in and out every day year-round. They also host and sponsor lots of local tournaments. There's several ramps closer to me so I don't go to Anchor often though. I think it's more that the tackle shops operate on a razor-thin line and they don't want to commit their life/career to something that risky.

I buy most of my stuff online...TW and others, plus some tackle from Japan more often than I'd like to admit . I also shop at BPS quite a bit since gift cards are a popular gift item for me and they also have boating gear, clothes, etc. Our BPS has a decent selection including Megabass and other higher end stuff. We have a DSG in town but I choose not to shop there anymore for a variety of reasons, their selection in the fishing department is garbage anyway. There's a relatively new tackle shop that's north of Baltimore (so about an hour+ from me) that's really the only 'local' tackle shop that caters to bass anglers....I've been a few times but to be honest, it's not worth the drive. They have a nice selections and prices on par with online retailers, but then add tax, gas, and time - It just doesn't make sense. It's also still not up to par with TW and others online in terms of selection. Times change, even the great 'local' tackle shops have an online presence. Susquehanna Fishing Tackle in PA and Tackle Supply Depot in CT are good examples...I'd bet both do far more online business than local. I've been to both, TSD actually doesn't even keep their products on the shelves, just 1 example of each...You fill out a little order sheet and they run back to the warehouse to get everything for you.

I fished out of a dual-center-console Dynatrack many years ago...IMO, it sounds like a great idea right up until you get in the boat and start using it. Biggest annoyance to me was the fact that you had to leave the seat to tie up no matter which side you dock on (since it's in the middle and not the starboard side). Layout with the console in the center is also not ideal IMO for both fishing and modern electronics mounting/rigging. The reason they weren't/aren't more popular is because most people didn't/don't like that layout for a bassboat.

Megabass Robin Blade. I normally don't like chatters without directly-attached blades, but I'm a MB junkie so I had to grab a couple to try. Supposedly it was designed this way to run deeper without rising and have a 'hunting' action...I generally need my bladed-jigs to run shallower over thick grass, but there are some lakes where I can get on a deeper, non-grass chatter bite so I'll be trying the Robin Blade there.

I agree with that, however I'm too much of a realist to think there is even the slightest chance of getting rod of them in the Potomac. Snakeheads are here to stay in the Potomac, for better or worse....So I don't fault people for catch and release fishing for them there. It's the guys that want to make their closest lake a snakehead fishery so they don't have to drive to the river that need to meet the long arm of the law eventually....One can hope.

FWIW, I love the XX Ronin for wacky senkos...Lots of other things too. Even though it's an F4 I consider it to be less powerful than the F3.5 Shakeyhead (XX and Levante). I'm usually skipping wacky senkos around docks and stuff so I don't like to go too light on power, Ronin fits the bill perfectly. No freeloading: MB Black Jungle - Deep Crank / Slow Roll (F5-71XBJ)....Which I've found to be an awesome chatterbait rod. Haven't used the Robin Blade yet, but it should get a thorough testing here shortly. Core MG7 is getting old these days but I've yet to find a reel I like better.

Would be hard to know these things if you weren't "in the know"....I stand corrected. Another reason to think that there's a lot more to the MLF/BPT deal than what has been published so far. It's hard for me to believe that so many anglers would leave BASS as a no-entry fee platform with a $50k signing bonus purely for spite.

This is false. I have yet to see a study say "no negative impact"...They all say something to the effect of, "Not as bad as originally thought, but long-term impact is unknown." Keep in mind, "Not as bad as originally thought," is the inevitable conclusion because back then people were losing their minds and talking about them walking across land to eat cats and small dogs. People need to quit illegally moving them around and sentiments like this only make people more likely to continue....Even IF they coexist fine, they are still carriers for LMBV so it's like a ticking time bomb should there be an outbreak. The Potomac is huge and loaded with them...Fish for them there and leave them there.

Won't find me without one tied on with all the tidal water around here....Will catch em just about year round.

Edit: My picture links keep breaking...Sorry! Enjoyed this one last year from A-Jay ...Since I'm not out fishing on this beautiful early-fall day here in MD I'll live vicariously through posting tackle and fish pics ? Winter (December thru mid-March): Balsa flatside, Vision 110, football jig, and finesse worm. Finesse worm caught the most, flatside caught bigger fish. Honorable mention to a swinghead with a Rage Bug Coldwater bass on the flatside Spring (Late March thru May): 110, football, and finesse worm remain, added a spinnerbait and chatterbait. Honorable mentions to swinghead and various sight-fishing baits. Prespawn chatterbait fish Summer (June thru late-September): Spinnerbait and chatter stays, added additional chatter, punch/flip rig and frog. All baits did well, summer is a great time on the tidal water around here. Honorable mentions to a popper, Sprinker frog, and finesse worm. Tough to pick a single picture, lots of quality fish this summer on all these...But the chatterbaits really put some tanks in the boat this year on the River and Bay... Fall (October thru November or early-December): Has just started, so nothing really defined so far this season...But past history points to 110, spinnerbait, chatter, popper, walker, and football jigs.

I split those out into different rods...BUT, you could do all of that with the Zillion 7'4" H Frog rod mentioned once already above (or even the Tatula version). It's a great rod - I use it for frogs, but it could be used for punching, flipping, pitching, swimbaits, a-rigs, etc....It's a little on the short side for my tastes with some of those, but it will still do the job well.

With all the MLF talk, this pic is topical...Our club has actually been doing catch-weigh-release tournaments for certain bodies of water for 2 seasons now, but we retain 5-bass limits. This is me weighing (with my co-angler verifying off camera) what would be the lunker (3-1) of a tournament last weeknd...It was a tough day and I ended up winning with 5 fish for 10-6 . Another bass pic....I've caught a lot of 'important' bass in my life - Some have been personal records, some have won me money, some were important for other reasons. I still remember the first bass I caught on my own. Watching my daughter catch her first bass ever, was up at the top of that list of important fish ...And it was a smallmouth to boot!

It was $20k bonus toward entry fees, not $50k cash. I think the reason so many didn't bite is becasue their sponsors were covering some/all of their entries either way...And those sponsors wanted the anglers in MLF. There's got to be more to the financial story on MLF/BPT, because if you look at the numbers about entries/payouts/etc objectively, the new BASS deal is better than BPT for current Elite anglers. No way that many guys bail on the better plan just out of spite or resentment toward BASS....There's more to those numbers that MLF/BPT isn't releasing yet (if ever).

They won't be inviting anyone...BASS has well defined qualification routes to the Elite series, primarily through the Opens. They will simply work down the list until they fill the field. Many of the anglers fishing the Opens are doing so with the intention/goal/dream of fishing the Elite Series so they probably won't have to go very far down the list. The Classic qualifications are defined as well. There is no 'inviting' for the BASS Elites or Classic, anglers need to qualify for both.

I understand and can appreciate that...However as someone that's been officer/leader of a bass club for a long time I can say that full member votes can often go sideways from the original direction or intention of the group...Not that it's necessarily bad, but sometimes full member votes turn out to be bad things. Not trying to compare a local club to a pro organization or anything like that, but in a general/functional sense there would be some similarities. Are all 80 considered owners/investors? All of them are going to get a piece of the pie? Or is it the original MLF investors and then the rest are entrants/participants, but all have a vote? I'll be watching everything...BASS, FLW, BPT, whatever...I'd watch a BFL or club tournament if I could stream it live, I'm just a bass fishing junkie . I'm not a BPT 'hater', but BASS Live is going to be hard to compete with regardless of the anglers on camera (BASS is likely to retain some hammers too). I'm not a fan of the delay for the Cups and Championship events...My interest level goes way down if the event is not fresh. When you can follow the lead up to the tournament and then the post-tournament analysis and techniques it's a lot more interesting. I don't like watching any sport on tape-delay, especially a ~6 month tape-delay.

It's not 75k in entry fees for any of the tours, don't think it's ever been that high. 75k is often a number thrown around for the total cost of a season - Entries plus travel, gas, lodging, food, etc, etc...Not sure how accurate it is and it's probably highly variable depending how each angler does it. Regardless, it's a ton of money. MLF/BPT entry fees are actually higher than the Elites for 2019 and with the new BASS changes MLF is significantly higher. Travel, gas, lodging, food, etc, etc, costs are still going to be similar regardless of what trail they fish.

Froggin' and Flippin'

20' bass boat is plenty big...His rods will be on the deck and in his locker. 4 or 5 rods and a backpack for tackle should be fine, you could slim it down if you wanted. Probably not his 1st time with 2 others in the boat, he'd have told you if there was a space issue. Don't be late. Don't be messy. Don't be disorganized. Don't step on the seats. Ask about smoking/dipping if you do either (not allowed in my boat, but everyone's different). Kick in some cash for gas or offer to pay the ramp fee, he may or may not accept. Have a good time, he wouldn't have invited you if he didn't think it would be fun...I'm sure you'll all have a fine time, don't be too paranoid about things. If in doubt about anything just ask him.